I presented the following at Delta's quarterly Family Meeting to communicate the different phases of a church plant. A pdf download of the information is available here.
Every church plant is different. Contexts are different, people are different, style is different, personalities are different, growth rates are different, and ministry development is different. But one thing that all church plants have in common is the stages that they go through, much like the stages of building a brand new home. Some stages overlap, some stages are shorter, some are longer, and everything is chaotic like an episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”. All this said to remind us of where Delta is, to encourage us, and to give us some perspective on the massive work that God is doing.
Stage 1: Location Identification and Excavation
God calls a planter and lays a location on his heart. A planter will make plans and preparations to move to the location and then relocate. Much work is done to assess and learn the culture and context. Conversations with people center on the “house” that will be built to find people who are interested in building with the planter.
Stage 2: Foundation
The true foundation of a church plant is not in a particular program, event, meeting, structure, or even people. The true foundation of a church plant is theology – the view of who God is and how God works. Only from a solid theology built on the truth of scripture can things like vision, mission, values and ministry philosophy be determined.
Stage 3: Framing
Once the foundation is set, the framing begins to go up that determines the structure of the home. The framing in a church plant are people, and at the earliest time of a church plant these people are known as the Core Team (or Launch Team). Most people who frame a church plant are leaders (elders & deacons) or workers (members). It is from these people, with the particular gifts & passions that God has formed them with, that determine what ministries and programs develop.
Stage 4: Mechanicals
Mechanicals are things like plumbing, wiring, HVAC, etc…basically, things that make the home function and livable. For a church plant, this would include things like financial systems, assimilation, communication, etc.
Stage 5: Exterior and Interior Finishes
Things like siding, rooms, doors, and the like make up this stage. This would mirror things like the development of ministries, or “expressions” of the church (groups, children & family ministries, affinity groups, etc). It is this stage in which the church becomes uniquely recognizable.
Stage 6: Decoration
As more people “move in” to the house and bring their personalities, gifting, and passions to the home, the expressions of the church become much more refined and specialized. Departments are able to form within expressions – for example, the worship gathering expression is able to more fully develop departs of the band, A/V, hospitality, etc.
Stage 7: Additions
As the family within the home grows and matures, the need for additions becomes necessary. For a church, these will take the form of moving to a larger facility, going multi-site, and aggressively church planting.
End notes:
With every stage, there is a need for a particular type of person to be involved, particular leadership gifts necessary, and the addition of more leaders & workers. Also every stage of growth is dependent on the Master Builder making it happen, as we as Christ-followers remain humble, dependant, and obedient to Christ and His Word. The church belongs to Jesus; not the pastor or the members. It is only the church’s authentic dependence on Jesus that will allow the full power of the Gospel to be unleashed.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Behind the Miracles
Just like there's a story behind every song, there's a meaning behind every miracle. In John's gospel, he records 7 miracles of Jesus. But these miralces aren't to just show off how powerful Jesus is; no, they clearly tell us what man's disposition is apart from Jesus and how only Jesus redeems that disposition. Check them out:
John 2:3 “They have no wine” tells us about man being void of Divine Joy.
John 4:46 “the nobleman’s son was sick” tells us the condition of the sinner’s soul.
John 5:7 “the paralyzed man” tells us the sinner is helpless and unable to make himself well.
John 6:5 “the multitude without food of their own” tells us the man without Christ does not have in His own possession that which gives him strength.
John 6:18 “the stormy sea” tells us the dangerous position of the sinner before Christ comes to him.
John 9:1 “the man born blind” tells us the inability of man to see their own condition and see Jesus without Jesus first opening their eyes.
John 11:14, we see that Lazarus, Jesus’ friend is dead…showing us the most frightening thing about man apart from Christ…we are dead as Ephesians 2:1 says that outside of Christ we are “dead in our trespasses and sins”. Only Jesus can breathe life into a dead soul
*Thanks to David Fairchild of Kaleo Church for some help on this.
John 2:3 “They have no wine” tells us about man being void of Divine Joy.
John 4:46 “the nobleman’s son was sick” tells us the condition of the sinner’s soul.
John 5:7 “the paralyzed man” tells us the sinner is helpless and unable to make himself well.
John 6:5 “the multitude without food of their own” tells us the man without Christ does not have in His own possession that which gives him strength.
John 6:18 “the stormy sea” tells us the dangerous position of the sinner before Christ comes to him.
John 9:1 “the man born blind” tells us the inability of man to see their own condition and see Jesus without Jesus first opening their eyes.
John 11:14, we see that Lazarus, Jesus’ friend is dead…showing us the most frightening thing about man apart from Christ…we are dead as Ephesians 2:1 says that outside of Christ we are “dead in our trespasses and sins”. Only Jesus can breathe life into a dead soul
*Thanks to David Fairchild of Kaleo Church for some help on this.
Friday, July 18, 2008
What's Missional to Me
We're about 18 months into our church plant and one thing I'm discovering is that people need constant reminders of who we are, what we're doing, and why we're doing it. You see, we're in the Mid-West and in a fairly traditional context. Most people around Springfield have some sort of "religious memory" of being loosely connected to a church, demonimation, or religious system. When I tell people that I'm a church planter, one of the first questions I get is "what type of church is it" (meaning: denomination). This is good and bad, depending on who's asking and what type of baggage the denomination has or appears to have. But I still avoid the question like the plague, because I want them to hear and see Jesus and His Gospel first before any type of categorizing. (We are a part of good denomination, I'm not in any way ashamed of our affiliation). Additionally, most all of our membership come from some sort of denominational background; so when we hit speed bumps as a church plant and we're trying to make a significant decision or maybe chart some new waters, it's very easy for some of our people to think in terms of programs or traditional structures. Not that those things are bad in themselves (well, OK, a lot of them are!); but they are not the automatic answer on growing our church in both depth and width.
So it all comes down to what our particular philosophy of ministry is. We would call ourselves a "missional" church. Now, this contains lots of meanings for many people (and honestly doesn't mean a thing to non-Christians and most Christians in general). If you want a comprehensive answer to what "missional" is, then check out Ed Stetzer's blog here. But for my church, here is my framework for being missional:
1- God is a missionary. God was the first missionary. When Adam and Eve sinned and hid from God, he was the first to call out "where are you?". So our primary picture, method, and model come from God the Father.
2- God sent the Son. Mark 2:17 has Jesus saying that he has come to call sinners to repentance, not cater to religious. Jesus spent his ministry years training up men to be missionaries and building relationships with the lost and pointing them to what the Kingdom of God is really about.
3- The Son sent the Spirit. John 15:26 tells us that a primary job of the Holy Spirit is to testify about Jesus.
4- The Spirit (along with the Son) sends the church. John 20:21 and Acts 1:8 make it crystal clear that as a follower of Jesus, we are ones who are sent into the world to proclaim Gospel and make disicples. So the question is, how does the church do that? This is where the rubber meets the proverbial road.
I believe the marks of a missional church are as follows:
1- A missional church bases everything on a proper understanding of who God is. A missional church will hold scripture in very high regard to learn about and do what Jesus did and why he did it. Scripture is the highest authority, not a system, tradition, program, or denomination.
2- A missional church puts its stock in relationships. Building relationships with people who are disconnected and far from Jesus makes up the vast majority of the evangelistic effort. A missional church won't do bait-n-switch programs in order to trick people into getting saved. A missional chruch (and a missional person for that matter) will take the time to invest in someone who is lost and faithfully sow the seeds of the Gospel, prayerfully hoping that God will draw them to faith.
3- A missional church tangibly lives out the Gospel in deed. The book of James is in the bible for a reason! We are to put feet to our faith and do things in Jesus' name to love on the poor, the marginalized, the forgotten, and the lost in general. We are, in the spirit of Jeremiah 29:7, be involved in the life of our cities and seek their betterment.
4- A missional church contextualizes the Gospel. First, this does not mean that the Gospel gets compromised or watered-down (that would go against point #1). It does mean that a missional Christian will use the culture that God has placed one in to appropriately communicate the Gospel. This translates into meeting places, times of meetings, illustrations used in teaching, vernacular, dress, recreation activities, etc.
5- A missional church is flexible. Most programs a missional church will try will typically have a short life span, and that's OK. Just because something gets done once, doesn't mean that it has to continue. Also, there's not much that is sacred (outside of scripture). For example, our church is cancelling our worship gathering twice this summer to mobilize our people to do service projects in the city (a la Jeremiah 29:7). Our Sunday worship gathering doesn't define us, but living out the Gospel does.
So how does this get practically communicated? Depending on whom I'm talking to that varies. To an "in the know" Christian, I would probably use the term "missional" and just clarify some points. To the nonChristian, say something like us being a church who really wants to live like Jesus did - loving and serving people.
Being missional means that things are a bit messy - but that's OK. Last time I checked, people are messy and life is very messy, and if we're to bring the Gospel to the people who really need, we're going to have to get our hands dirty.
If you'd like a good book to read that does a great job on describing a missional church, check out "Total Church" by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis.
So it all comes down to what our particular philosophy of ministry is. We would call ourselves a "missional" church. Now, this contains lots of meanings for many people (and honestly doesn't mean a thing to non-Christians and most Christians in general). If you want a comprehensive answer to what "missional" is, then check out Ed Stetzer's blog here. But for my church, here is my framework for being missional:
1- God is a missionary. God was the first missionary. When Adam and Eve sinned and hid from God, he was the first to call out "where are you?". So our primary picture, method, and model come from God the Father.
2- God sent the Son. Mark 2:17 has Jesus saying that he has come to call sinners to repentance, not cater to religious. Jesus spent his ministry years training up men to be missionaries and building relationships with the lost and pointing them to what the Kingdom of God is really about.
3- The Son sent the Spirit. John 15:26 tells us that a primary job of the Holy Spirit is to testify about Jesus.
4- The Spirit (along with the Son) sends the church. John 20:21 and Acts 1:8 make it crystal clear that as a follower of Jesus, we are ones who are sent into the world to proclaim Gospel and make disicples. So the question is, how does the church do that? This is where the rubber meets the proverbial road.
I believe the marks of a missional church are as follows:
1- A missional church bases everything on a proper understanding of who God is. A missional church will hold scripture in very high regard to learn about and do what Jesus did and why he did it. Scripture is the highest authority, not a system, tradition, program, or denomination.
2- A missional church puts its stock in relationships. Building relationships with people who are disconnected and far from Jesus makes up the vast majority of the evangelistic effort. A missional church won't do bait-n-switch programs in order to trick people into getting saved. A missional chruch (and a missional person for that matter) will take the time to invest in someone who is lost and faithfully sow the seeds of the Gospel, prayerfully hoping that God will draw them to faith.
3- A missional church tangibly lives out the Gospel in deed. The book of James is in the bible for a reason! We are to put feet to our faith and do things in Jesus' name to love on the poor, the marginalized, the forgotten, and the lost in general. We are, in the spirit of Jeremiah 29:7, be involved in the life of our cities and seek their betterment.
4- A missional church contextualizes the Gospel. First, this does not mean that the Gospel gets compromised or watered-down (that would go against point #1). It does mean that a missional Christian will use the culture that God has placed one in to appropriately communicate the Gospel. This translates into meeting places, times of meetings, illustrations used in teaching, vernacular, dress, recreation activities, etc.
5- A missional church is flexible. Most programs a missional church will try will typically have a short life span, and that's OK. Just because something gets done once, doesn't mean that it has to continue. Also, there's not much that is sacred (outside of scripture). For example, our church is cancelling our worship gathering twice this summer to mobilize our people to do service projects in the city (a la Jeremiah 29:7). Our Sunday worship gathering doesn't define us, but living out the Gospel does.
So how does this get practically communicated? Depending on whom I'm talking to that varies. To an "in the know" Christian, I would probably use the term "missional" and just clarify some points. To the nonChristian, say something like us being a church who really wants to live like Jesus did - loving and serving people.
Being missional means that things are a bit messy - but that's OK. Last time I checked, people are messy and life is very messy, and if we're to bring the Gospel to the people who really need, we're going to have to get our hands dirty.
If you'd like a good book to read that does a great job on describing a missional church, check out "Total Church" by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis.
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